When I had my last kiln repair the man (who is a ceramicist) said he always does a 10 hour preheat to completely dry out his work before he fires. I've started doing that with my pieces what took far too much labor to let them shatter. So over all I fire my work for 23 hours with the slow ramp.

Thanks David and Wendy. It was just a matter of firing a piece that I had no business firing At least there was nothing else in the kiln to get ruined. As it turned out, it was too far to wick oil up the elephant trunk. Had it not exploded, I would have spent time to glaze it and it would not have worked. I have a plan to modify the next one, have to get it done before Oct 23, 2014.

The "Om" Diya (oil lamp) worked out fine, she chose Butter Toffee glaze. The bottom is inscribed "With the gleam of diyas, may contentment fill your lives"

Thanks guys. My Hindi friend said the oil lamp added a gleam of contentment to their Diwali celebration

OK, here a project I have been working on for a while for Amy's Palm Springs Tonga Hut. She hasn't given me permission to post it but I figured it out in public view and there are other PS Tonga Hut pictures posted so it's fair game. If I suddenly pull this down you will know why

The Palm Springs Tonga Hut has an outdoor display window that faces the sidewalk about 4 feet wide x 5 feet tall x 1 foot deep. She wanted an animated display in a Witco-esque style, kind of a "Small World Meets Witco". This is what I came up with ~ a Drummer, a Fire Spinner, and 2 Hula Girls all made of burned and brushed wood. the background is a volcano with a red glow behind it and flickering flames on top. Red lava rock covers the floor.

Since TC does not allow video posted, here's a small animated GIF that sort of shows the movement (not so much on the Drummer)

This has been a fun project but rather challenging. The Drummer is about 24 inches tall, operates with wooden levers and cams. The Hula Girls are about 18 inches tall and are based on heavily modified plans for a dancing Santa. The left girl is driven by a motor, the right girl is linked with a Plexiglas bar so they are always synchronized in their dance. I had part supply issues with the dancing Santa that really delayed this project. The Fire Spinner has a rotating shaft with LED lights, a two contact brushes, pulleys made from wood, and a vacuum cleaner belt. They have lots of nylon bushings so hopefully they will run for a long time with minimal maintenance _________________When you hurry through life, you just get to the end faster.
Pirate Ship Tree House

hmmm... the animated GIF doesn't show unless I'm signed in to Photobucket, I have to find a way to fix that _________________When you hurry through life, you just get to the end faster.
Pirate Ship Tree House

Sorry to hear about your Ganesh, Mike. At least contentment turned out well.

That Tonga hut assembly is simply AMAZING. What kind of motors did you use and where did you get them? I can't tell in the GIF...is the volcano lava part working yet? You really nailed the Disney Small World feel.

Matt, Lance, & Kahaka - thank you so much
Wendy - it's ready for your next visit, we can try out the restaurant too.
Tiger - the motors are 110v geared reduction motors from The Winfield Collection The Drummer and the Hula Girls run on the #MOT9, the Fire Spinner has more friction and required a bigger #MOT. The volcano is static, just red rope lights behind it and the flicker bulbs on top.
_________________When you hurry through life, you just get to the end faster.
Pirate Ship Tree House